"What the latest research says...

By Tom Venuto, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

www.BurnTheFat.com

The biologically active ingredients that seem to make fatty fish so
beneficial are are the long chain omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids, EPA and
DHA. At least a half a dozen human studies and more than two dozen
animal studies have been completed in the last 10 years which suggest
that these omega-3 fatty acids found in fish may help you lose more
fat. However, the fat loss benefit is not as much as some people want
you to believe…

The results of two new studies on fish oil and fat loss were just
released earlier this year. In one study published by the International
Journal of Obesity, researchers from Reykjavik Iceland tested the
effects of fish or fish oil consumption equivalent to 1.5 grams of
combined EPA/DHA on body weight and body composition as part of a
calorie restricted diet. (1)

The subjects were 324 young overweight men and women who followed one of four experimental protocols for 8 weeks:

(1) sunflower oil capsules (control)
(2) lean fish
(3) fatty fish (salmon)
(4) fish oil capsules

The researchers reported the following results:

“In young, overweight men, the inclusion of either lean or fatty
fish, or fish oil as part of a hypoenergetic diet resulted in 1
kilogram more weight loss after 4 weeks than a similar diet without
seafood or supplement of marine origin. The addition of seafood to a
nutritionally balanced energy-restricted diet may boost weight loss.”

It should be noted that the study was supported by the Seafood Plus
organization and there were some limitations in the design that could
have influenced the subject’s compliance.

The second study, conducted at the University of South Australia and
published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2)
investigated the effect of combining fish oil supplements with regular
aerobic exercise.

In a 12-week, placebo-controlled study, the subjects were divided into four groups:

(1) sunflower oil
(2) sunflower oil plus exercise
(3) fish oil
(4) fish oil plus exercise.

The fish oil groups were given 6 grams of high DHA fish oil per day,
which contained a total of 1.9 grams of long chain omega-3 fatty acids.
The exercising groups performed aerobic exercise three days per week
for 45 minutes.

As you might expect, the fish oil plus exercise group came out with the best results:

Unfortunately, there was a limitation in this study as well: The
food intake of the subjects was self reported, which is known to be
notoriously inaccurate.

There have been several other human studies on fish oil and fat loss
in the last ten years or so and the majority of the findings have been
positive. The research is compelling and there have been numerous, and
very plausible mechanisms of action proposed.

However, more and more often, I am hearing people in the health,
fitness and nutrition industries making some pretty bold and I daresay,
premature and outrageous claims about what fish oil can do for fat
loss; claims which are not supported by the research.

The studies on fish oil and fat loss are encouraging, but the vast
majority of research has been on animals (rats, mice and hamsters) and
there have been limitations in nearly all the human studies so far,
including:

Small sample sizes, short study durations, statistically
insignificant results, lack of randomization, no control groups,
imprecise body composition testing, measurement errors, self-reporting
of food intake, low compliance control and fish industry or supplement
industry-sponsored bias.

Even if you take the results of the existing research at face value,
the fat loss really isn’t all that impressive - an extra pound here, an
extra kilo there.

Many of the research results barely reach statistical significance,
and you even have to wonder if these small improvements in fat loss are
simply correcting omega-3 deficiency or fixing omega-3 and omega-6
imbalance… therefore, will they continue over a longer time period or
is this a one time improvement?

One of the earlier studies showed the same kind of measurable but
modest results: The fish oil group that took 1.8 grams of combined
EPA/DHA daily lost 2 pounds and the non fish oil group lost only 0.7
pounds after 3 weeks (3).

Of course, you’ll probably take all the fat loss help that you
can get, and since there are already enough good reasons to eat fatty
fish for cardiovascular disease prevention and other health benefits,
it’s really a no brainer to eat fish such as salmon, trout, mackerel or
sardines at least twice a week. (By the way, with the exception of King
Mackerel, these are species which have not been reported as having
problems with mercury contamination).

Alternately, you can use a fish oil supplement to get the equivalent
in omega-3 fatty acids as found in the fish. Non fish eaters or
vegetarians can use flaxseed oil, a plant-based source of Alpha
Linolenic Acid (ALA) which converts in the body to EPA and DHA (the
efficiency and amount of conversion has been a subject of controversy,
however).

Based on the three studies cited above, it looks like 1.5 to 2.0
grams per day of combined DHA/EPA is the right dose when fat loss is
the goal (although some suggest you should consider body weight when
choosing the dosage, i.e., 1 gram total fish oil for each 20 lbs body
weight, so a big guy might go with as much as 3.0 grams)

Most fish oil capsules come in 1,000 mg size at a 30% concentration,
so if you took five 1000mg capsules a day, that would give you 1.5
grams of EPA/DHA; about the same as you’d get in 3 ounces (85 g) of
salmon.

Note: other studies on fish oil and fat loss tested 3.0 to 4.0 g/day
of EPA/DHA, but the American Heart Association has warned against
taking more than 3 g EPA/DHA per day without a physicians supervision,
as there may be potential contraindications and side effects such as
increased bleeding time. Based on the research, more fish oil will NOT
burn more fat, so be wary of the “mega dose gurus.”

Another tip: Don’t fall for the “premium price” necessarily means
better quality party line. Quality and purity are important, but you
can get molecularly-distilled, mercury, PCB, Dioxin,
Organochlorine-free, 3rd party tested-to-meet-label-claims fish oil for
less than ten bucks per bottle of 400 (one gram) capsules… yet I have
seen “fish oil gurus” selling the exact same thing for $50 to $60
claiming that everyone else’s products are “contaminated” and
“inferior” in quality. If that’s true, then I’d like to see those
products submitted to consumer lab for voluntary 3rd party independent
analysis and head to head comparison on purity AND cost effectiveness.
If they come out superior and cost effective, I will gladly publicize
the results myself.

The bottom line is it looks like fish oil may be a legitimate help
to your fat loss efforts, especially when combined with exercise, as
there may be an important synergy there. However, the idea that fish
oil is some kind of miracle fat burner is just not true.

Like Mulder on the X-files, “I want to believe”… but we need much,
much more research before we can say for certain exactly how much body
composition improvement you can really expect from eating fatty fish or
taking fish oil supplements.

Your friend and coach,

Tom Venuto

www.BurnTheFat.com

References:

(1) Hill AM. Combining fish-oil supplements with regular aerobic
exercise improves body composition and cardiovascular disease risk
factors. Am J Clin Nutr. 86(5): 1267-1274. 2007

(2) Thorsdottir I et al. Randomized trial of weight loss diets for
young adults varying in fish and fish oil content. Int J Obesity. May
2007. pp 1-7

(3) Couet C. Effect of dietary fish oil on body fat mass and basal
fat oxidation in healthy adults. Int J Obes. 21: 637-643. 1997

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified
personal trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning
specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle"
Tom has written more than 200 articles and has been featured in print
magazines such as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding,
Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as
on hundreds of websites worldwide.

For information on Tom's Fat Loss
program, visit: www.BurnTheFat.com